What Do You Say to a Kiwi in a Neck Tie?

Recently, I wrote a post on how wearing a tie to work doesn’t seem to be fashionable at all anymore. It was published on the people2people Australian blog and you can take a look here. The response to our Twitter poll was overwhelmingly, saying that you don’t have to wear a tie anymore but the poll covered both New Zealand and Oz. It got me thinking as to whether there is a difference between Australia and New Zealand on this ‘hot topic’.

When Shannon and I were planning the opening of the people2people Auckland office, we visited Auckland on a couple of occasions meeting with potential consultants, peers in the industry and clients. I remember saying to Shannon on one particularly blustery Friday, that we had not actually met or seen anyone wearing a tie. It then became a bit of a game to try and spot someone. It was only on our second visit, on the fourth day at about 8pm in the evening, in The Jefferson on Fort Lane, that we finally spotted a couple of dapper suited male Aucklanders in ties!

So is it true that no men wear ties in Auckland? What about in New Zealand generally?

Apparently the UK parliament dropped the requirement for male MP’s to wear ties recently, but NZ MP’s still have to don the silk around their necks. Labour’s Grant Robertson and the Nat’s Chris Bishop, even suggested a unity ticket on dropping the tie in Parliament based on the fact that no men wear ties in business in New Zealand anymore. You can see the exchange on Twitter here.

The team at people2people in Auckland are now keeping a keen eye out for ties and keeping a tally. At the time of writing I think we have spotted 11 of the rare necktie. It’s certainly on the endangered list!